1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile knee bolster that during a collision absorbs the energy of impact between the knees of an occupant and the dashboard, and in particular to a knee bolster that can be used on the driver side or on the passenger side of the dashboard.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, knee bolsters are provided in the lower portion of a vehicle dashboard, facing the legs of passengers sitting in the front seats of an automobile.
In some designs, the lid that covers the glove compartment located in front of the passenger seat is used as part of the knee bolster assembly on the passenger side of the dashboard, as described in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei 4[1992]-63745; and in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application Hei 5[1993]-50889.
FIG. 12 shows one example of a knee bolster structure for the passenger side of a dashboard, wherein the glove compartment lid is used as the knee bolster.
A steering support member (101) is located facing the front seats, and extends along the car width. Member (101) supports the dashboard (102). The glove compartment (103) is located on the passenger side of the dashboard (102), and has a lid (104) containing a reinforcement (105). Knee bolster (106) is supported by the can impact the dashboard approximately at the location of the glove compartment lid (104).
When a conventional knee bolster structure is used, lid (104) deforms to absorb the impact energy from the passenger knees. The impact energy is further carried to the knee bolster (106) located behind lid (104). Thus when the impact has sufficient energy, not only does the lid (104) deform, but the knee bolster (106) also deforms to absorb the load.
With the conventional knee bolster structures, however, the lateral dimension of the lid along the width of the car must correspond to the lateral dimension of the knee bolster (106). Therefore, the length of the reinforcement (105) along the car width becomes large, and the reinforcement's weight increases. One problem of the conventional design is thus excessive weight of the glove compartment assembly (103).
Another problem of the conventional knee bolster is that the top and bottom portions of the knee bolster have the same stiffness, and cannot accommodate different impact forces.